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Amos

About this book
Chapter 2

1 This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. 2 So I will set Moab on fire, and it will consume Kerioth’s fortresses. Moab will perish in the heat of battle amid war cries and the blaring of the ram’s horn. 3 I will remove Moab’s leader; I will kill all Moab’s officials with him.” The Lord has spoken! 4 This is what the Lord says: “Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the Lord’s law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray. 5 So I will set Judah on fire, and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” 6 This is what the Lord says: “Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.⁠ 7 They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; they push the destitute away. A man and his father go to the same girl; in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity.⁠ 8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;⁠ they do so right beside every altar!⁠ They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple of their God!⁠ 9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. They were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks,⁠ but I destroyed the fruit on their branches and their roots in the ground. 10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for 40 years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own. 11 I made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. Is this not true, you Israelites?” The Lord is speaking. 12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine;⁠ you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’ 13 Look! I will press you down, like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. 14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; strong men will have no strength left; warriors will not be able to save their lives. 15 Archers will not hold their ground; fast runners will not save their lives, nor will those who ride horses. 16 Bravehearted warriors will run away naked⁠ in that day.” The Lord is speaking.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 24:17 and Amos 2:8

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy forbids taking a widow’s garment as loan security, since it strips away dignity and basic protection. Amos echoes this warning by condemning the wealthy who lounge on pledged garments, turning another person’s survival item into luxury.

Passages

Deuteronomy 24:17

Hebrew Bible
15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin. 17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Amos 2:8

Hebrew Bible
6 This is what the Lord says: “Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; they push the destitute away. A man and his father go to the same girl; in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity. 8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple of their God!
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Amos

References

"... It is evident that poverty affects all aspects of human existence. So it is easy to understand that poor people lack everything: sufficient food, adequate clothing, and a shelter worthy of human beings. However, garments are also often mentioned in a more specific context, namely, that of debts ... In the parallelism, exacting pledges is explained as taking away clothes. There are a significant number of biblical texts that associate garments with the question of pledges in the context of the ancient credit system. The Torah forbids taking a widow’s garment in pledge (Deuteronomy 24:17). It also commands that one restore a neighbor’s cloak taken in pawn before sunset, since it is used as a cover during the night (Exodus 22:25-26; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). In Deuteronomy 24:12, the cloak is simply called a “garment.” People who are called “naked” in other texts may simply have lost their “cloak,” a seamless cover used especially for protection from the cold Palestinian nights. Critical prophets also mention garments in the context of pledges. Amos 2:8 accuses wealthy Israelites of “laying themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge.” Less clear is Micah 2:8, where the “house of Jacob” is accused of “stripping the robe from the peaceful.” ..."
Rainer Kessler, “'When You See the Naked, Cover Them!': The Clothing of the Poor as an Act of Righteousness,” in Clothing and Nudity in the Hebrew Bible: A Handbook, ed. Christoph Berner, Manuel Schäfer, Martin Schott, Sarah Schulz, and Martina Weingärtner (London: T&T Clark, 2019), 331–352.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 24:17 and Amos 2:8

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